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Stewart pleased with move to Ford; #14 team needs sponsorship:

January 19, 2017 at 12:00 AM
  • Stewart pleased with move to Ford; #14 team needs sponsorship: The move from Chevrolet to Ford during the offseason was more than just an undertaking of putting new body panels on the cars for Stewart-Haas Racing. As part of the switch, SHR now solely relies on building its own chassis (the car frame) instead of getting chassis from Hendrick Motorsports. That change by itself meant adding people to the payroll and a lot more work to get ready for 2017. Team co-owner Tony Stewart seems pleased with how his team has converted to a new fleet of cars. Speaking at the Ford Performance racing support center, Stewart said Wednesday he feels confident his team has been organized well enough to make the switch without losing a beat. SHR doesn’t build engines. It will move from Hendrick engines to Ford supplier Roush Yates Engines. Stewart said he felt the transition so far was smoother than he thought it would be when the team made the decision to change, a decision it did not take lightly considering Stewart’s long relationship with General Motors and the quality cars and engines SHR had in winning the 2011 title with Stewart and the 2014 title with Kevin Harvick.
    Even great performance doesn’t always translate into sponsorship. While SHR will field four cars in 2017, Clint Bowyer, stood in front of a Mobil 1-branded car during the event even though Mobil just has a few races with Bowyer next season. The team has not announced an anchor sponsor for the majority of races for Bowyer, who replaces Stewart in the #14 NASCAR Cup car. “We’re still working, still looking for sponsors for the 14 car so feel free to bring whatever you’ve got,” Stewart told the media. The Bowyer car would run without sponsorship, if necessary, or with the Haas Automation logos of team co-owner Gene Haas on the car. Even with Ford support (manufacturers give teams money in addition to engineering support), Stewart said sponsorship is vital.(ESPN.com)(1-19-2017)